A Pirate's Life For Me
by monogatari ai
Summary: [AU] The sea is a dangerous place, full of unexpected happenings: storms that come out of nowhere, unmanagable waters, waves that can make a ship capsize, and last but not least...pirates!
1. A Desolate Land

_I started this a long time ago and I wasn't going to post this, but my friend who I put in these stories wanted me to, so (shrugs) I'm posting it. _

_A few things you people need to know if you are reading this:_

_1) There are, like in all my other stories if it isn't obvious by now, original characters. Actually, there are original characters in almost every story in the FY section so it really shouldn't seem new._

_2) As you'll find out soon enough, due to the fact that Hotohori is not emperor, Konan is in a desolate state and I ain't changing it. _

_3) I DESPISE Miaka and Taka; it may not show or anything, but I really do hate them. So if you like them, well, keep your opinions about my 'being mean to them' to yourself because I won't listen.

* * *

_

The wind blew ferociously, causing many villager's hats and cloaks to fly up. It was amusing to watch but yet, no one dared to utter a single laugh. It was almost as if a single expression other than a negative one was completely outlawed. The children's faces were serious and devoid of the smile that was generally present on scheming children's faces.

A woman's hair blew out from under her cap and she muttered angrily, snapping at the surrounding children for not having enough courtesy to catch her cap for her. The children simply looked at her and did nothing. To say that something was not right in this town was an understatement.

Two women – not even women, teenage girls – stood off to the side in the shadows of a tall building, quietly observing this.

"If I had paint to color this, it'd all be gray" one said softly. Wisps of red hair blew in the wind and her piercing blue eyes looked like she had seen things beyond her years, this being one of them.

Her companion, with long dark hair nodded and her red eyes seemed to glow, "This just…" she clenched her fist, "C'mon…let's go"

"Yeah"

They walked through the town, getting curious whispers from the few town gossips every now and then, but a simple glare would shut each one up quite efficiently. They reached the harbor and stood in front of a ship with black sails and dark mahogany wood. It was a sleek ship, with black, red and silver decorations that made it seem deadly. With amazing grace, they leapt onto the ship and walked around like they owned it. Of course, they probably did.

* * *

"Where is my son?" the Empress Motaiko asked. She peered expectantly at the messenger and crossed her arms, "Well?"

"I do not know your highness" he said, trying not to stutter.

"Then go find him!" she ordered.

"Yes, your highness" with a frightened squeak, the messenger hurried off.

The Prince of the Crimson Kingdom, also known as Konan, to the educated noble, was currently hiding. Gracefully hiding of course. He was atop a tree in the royal garden, a book in his hand but his mind elsewhere.

The royal healer smiled to himself as he listened to the leaves rustling when the prince shifted. As he gathered herbs for his medicine, he wondered how the prince had gotten that way. When the Emperor had been the same age, he had been spending time on the throne or in the harem and the Empress was never too much of a thinker. The result of their marriage, however, was a deep thinking, noble and cared not for the women of the harem. He knew that they were all just looks and had close to no personality at all.

"Oi!" a messenger came running, "Have you seen the prince?"

"I haven't seen him, no" the healer said truthfully. He hadn't exactly seen the prince. He knew where he was, but to see him? No.

After the messenger left, the healer heard a soft whisper said in a deep voice, "Thanks, Juan"

"Not a problem, your majesty"

A pause, "Please don't call me that. Saihitei will suffice"

"Alright then…your majesty"

"Why do I bother? I tell you the same thing every single day"

"That you do"

"Well, thanks anyways, Juan" Unlike most of the royal family, Saihitei was uneasy being referred to as higher as someone else. No matter what Motaiko or his deceased father had done, Saihitei remained set in his ways.

Saihitei went back to his book and Juan left the gardens. An hour later, the messenger came out into the garden and spotted him, "Prince Saihitei!"

"Yes?" Saihitei inwardly cursed the messenger.

"Your mother wishes to speak to you"

"Very well" Saihitei sighed and went to the throne room. There stood his mother's court and he stood politely in front of her, "You called, mother?"

"Yes, Saihitei; I'd like to introduce you to Lord Yujin; he is the one leading Konan's forces against the Water Kingdom – Kutou"

"We're attacking?" Saihitei frowned.

"Yes, my son; soon, our power will grow" Motaiko said, mistaking Saihitei's expression for one of happiness.

Saihitei nodded, "Very well. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lord Yujin"

"My prince, the pleasure was all mine" Yujin said, bowing. Saihitei nodded again, "Well, if that is all, Mother, I'd like to go back to my studies"

Motaiko frowned at her son. He studied too much but she supposed if that made him happy…

"Very well. You may go"

Saihitei bowed to her and left the court room, his face an emotionless mask.

Motaiko sighed, "That boy…is so different"

* * *

He was at home when he heard the news. Home for him was a small cottage out in the country where his family resided. Apparently, Konan was going to attack Kutou. This was disturbing news, for that meant he would have to choose which side to support. It was a game of chance in which the lucky won.

The carriage of the messenger raced through town and he listened carefully. Empress Motaiko was confident that she would win. Very confident. She had the main rule in Konan, seeing as her son was never around and always disappearing off somewhere. Rumors in the city were that he was meeting a woman in secret, but that was absurd; the prince never paid attention to his harem, which consisted of the most beautiful women in the country.

He sighed when he saw his wife on the horizon. She tripped and rolled down the hill and he winced when she crashed into the well. She had always been a klutz; the fact that she had an endless appetite never helped either. He sighed. It would be a bothersome year, he could tell. They needed more money to feed her too…

He looked at the messenger again.

He smirked. He knew his decision.

* * *

The violet haired man was angry. Why did Konan choose such a time to attack Kutou? There was no way Konan would win. Looking at the state of its towns, there was absolutely no way. These people wouldn't know the meaning of spirit if it danced in front of their faces and slapped them a million times.

He was also angry at his men. They were such idiots sometimes. He knew he shouldn't have allowed his second-in-command, Genrou to bring sake on board last night. They were still drunk from the alcohol. At least Dokun – known on board as Sharp – was smart enough not to get horribly drunk the night before a big mission. Sharp as a tack that one was, hence the name.

It was a common rule that no outlaw would ever use their real name if they were smart. Real names could be traced and that would lead to weaknesses being found out. Many men – and women – had suffered that fate many times. Their families and loved ones would be murdered, often before they could reconcile things.

He sighed. Such depressing thoughts were common these days. That General Yujin was always sending bounty hunters after people such as himself. He was a pirate, through and through and let it be known that nobody in Willow's crew had ever been killed while he was in charge.

"Willow!" Sharp came up to him, frowning, "We're almost at our destination and they're still half drunk!"

"Well then, Sharp; you know what to do. Round up the ones that are only a quarter drunk and tie up the rest of them so they don't mess things up" Willow flashed one of his grins, "And you and I will have all the fun"

Sharp nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement at the prospect of going along alone with Willow, in his opinion, the best captain The Phoenix ever had. He always kept a level head and he was damn scary when he was pissed off. Sharp found it a privilege to be allowed on the ship at thirteen. Everyone else was older than he was, but Willow had taken a liking to him and nobody had dared pick on him except in a friendly manner after that.

Willow only had to wait fifteen minutes for Sharp to come back. He had with him Kouji – which mostly likely wasn't his real name seeing as Kouji had amnesia, a best friend of Genrou who could hold his liquor really well. He had probably drunk more than Genrou had and here he was, standing like he hadn't drank a drop. A few others were with him and Willow nodded, satisfied at the number. He could work with this.

"Alright; this is a big mission. I should brief you again. See that big ship o'er there? Well, that there's a Konan merchant ship. We…are going to loot it o'course. Kouji, you'll be in charge of the deck and stuff; make sure no one gets off the ship. I'll leave ye to the strategies. Sharp and I will be going in and taking out the captain and taking care of the loot. I'll give the ordinary signal when it's okay to come"

"Aye, Willow!" Kouji said, happy at being in charge of something.

They started the mission.

Sharp was a bit slow seeing as he was still younger but Willow was patient and ran slower than he usually did. Of course, if Genrou wasn't half drunk – at this, Willow scowled – he could have had Genrou go ahead and scout everything so Willow wouldn't have to be so paranoid. Genrou was definitely the fastest in his crew. But he was so damn dumb sometimes.

The captain was a fat, sleazy looking man who had obviously enjoyed the comforts of his ship very much. Well, that was about to change fast. His laziness made it easy for even little Sharp to overpower him. Willow sighed as he looked through the captain's things. He decided that he didn't have enough time to look through _everything_ of the sleazebag's so he dumped everything on the table into the nearby chest and sent out the signal. Soon, Kouji and the others arrived and they were loading the chests onto their own ship.

Willow looked happily at this. Piracy _was_ the life. No rules. No loyalties. No need to get involved in the Konan-Kutou war. Just a whole lot of looting.

_A pirate's life for me.

* * *

_

Please review. At least tell me you liked or hated it or whatever. 


	2. Jailbreak

Thanks to those who reviewed. You made me happy! (smiles)

Note 1: They don't have that Suzaku vs. Seiryuu thing here since most of them are pirates so, no, once seeing someone from Seiryuu, they won't suddenly get an surge of hatred and attack, alright? They don't even have powers (yet...or not?) in this.

note 2: I like Nakago. I don't care if he was portrayed as evil in the series. He's one of my favorites and he isn't evil in this story. The evil person in this story is...well, you'll find out, but it's pretty obvious which side of the war is the 'good' side.

Note 3: Nuriko will not be gay in this story. He is a pirate captain (in case you people didn't pick it up in the last chapter, Willow is Nuriko) and his sister never died. Therefore, he is not gay...Tomo is though. He's too funny...

Note 4: I hate Miaka. She'll probably suffer a horrible end in this story because i simply think that she deserves to die. I'm sorry if somebody out there thinks otherwise but i don't like her. I like Yui though; Yui's cool.

**Reader's response:**

**Kyae Sohma:**...(blinks) It's true! I can't believe nobody's thought of them as pirates yet (of course, this will probably end up pretty crappy since i haven't exactly planned what's to happen, but still...). Glad you like it though!

**aderine no miko:** Thanks! Yeah, it'll get less confusing later on...probably when everyone ends up together, the action will start. Right now, it's just basic insanity. And there are pairings, but only for Nuriko and Hotohori. So...if you want to get in the story and have someone in mind(cough)...email me and my friend and I will get together and think hard on it...she'll probably say yes as long as you don't say Hotohori.

**Kristall:** Pirate stories are good! You're not the only one who likes pirates (grins sheepishly) Since you like pirates so much, did you watch pirates of the carribbean 2?

**Kono Mayoterru Hoshi:** Geez; of course Hotohori's in this. What would Fushigi Yuugi be without Hotohori and his narcissism. My friend would kill me if I decided not to put Hotohori in even _one_ of my stories (you would too, i imagine. Don't worry; that idea hasn't entered my mind during the creative process yet). Yes. That would be me. Red eyes are cool. This second chapter has a bit more excitement; who knew Hotohori could be so rebellious? (smirks) Oh yeah; Pirates of the Carribbean 2 _was_ awesome! She _is_ a whore. I'm sorry but that was just...SHE KILLED HIM!...on with the answering of review questions. Oh yes. They are going to be in the war, thanks to Nakago, but you won't find out about that for a bit.

**caspercat22:**...glad you liked it!

ENJOY!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since they had set off from the last town. They had yet to anchor in another town, but it did not look as though they would be doing so any time soon. As a young man and part of the crew aboard the Ryuuka, he knew that they landed depending on one of the captain's whims, though there was usually some strange reason behind making landfall. 

Before he could ponder more about his captains' strange ways, he was interrupted by one of the two captains, who was running straight out onto the High Deck, from where their rooms were located, a grin on her face and her red hair flying behind her as the other one came running out, waving a bucket and a wooden object around, swinging randomly. The latter of the two was dripping wet and had a murderous expression on her face.

They continued to do this for a while until the one known as Falcon, the redhead, gave up and allowed herself to be hit with the wooden object.

"Raven!" Falcon whined.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Raven grumbled; she had never been much of a morning person, and was even less so when she was dripping wet.

Before the two captains could get into one of their full blown arguments, which generally included bladed weapons, mallets and explosives, he decided to step in, "Stop it" he implored and the two captains dropped their weapons.

"Sparrow's right. We don't have time for this" Hawk piped up. He was swinging his weapons around lazily, the spinning bladed balls shot in every direction as he controlled them expertly, "I thought you two said that we were doing something important today"

His twin, Eagle, nodded, "You did say that" he said in a manner that implied that he didn't really trust what his captains' views on 'important' were.

And the rest of the crew seemed to agree, especially the one known as Peacock, named for the wide range of feathers that hung in his hair like a peacock's tail. He was the oddball of the group…well, the oddest one, who usually had layers of white paste on his face and looked like he belonged to a theatre rather than a pirate ship. No one except the two captains really knew what Peacock looked like without his makeup and the man liked it that way.

"Kekekekeke…" Peacock laughed his signature strange laugh, "So what have our insane captains planned for us today? A trip in town, possibly another infiltration into a gay bar, which I quite enjoyed, I must say; a raid on one of the Empress' royal boats carrying her wide variety of makeup to her? Or…are we doing something else?" he pondered.

Falcon grinned, "As fun as that sounds – note to self: get Eagle and Hawk into a gay bar – we have something else planned…"

"Which is?"

"It's a surprise…but sail East"

"Ah…so we're off _there_ are we?"

"…yes"

"And we are not, by chance, stopping at a gay bar?"

"…no"

"Are you sure?"

"…yep"

"Completely sure? Because you know…I would very much love to visit that gay bar again…"

"…Pea?"

"Yesssssss?"

"Shut up"

"Ayyyyeeeee…."

* * *

Mother was annoyed again. Saihitei looked up with that thought solely on his mind. She was always angry these days; he supposed it was because of those pirates that raided her royal cargo carrying her make up to her, causing her to be holed up in her room for days. Truthfully, he didn't really know what pirates would do with that much make up and he didn't want to know. 

He decided to leave his book and go outside. Perhaps Juan would be there; the healer was generally always in the garden, picking out herbs that would help in his medicine. Juan had a gift for healing, but unfortunately, came from a poor family. It was just by luck that he had helped Saihitei when the prince was a child, or he could be still living in poverty.

Sure enough, Juan was outside, picking herbs while sitting on the fresh green grass, looking very much at peace as the wind blew at his spiky black hair. The orange band that was usually around his head was on the ground next to him, held to the ground by a small rock. Saihitei sat down next to Juan, shocking many passing nobles and officials; they, like his mother, thought that he should not be talking to Juan at all; her exact words had been: "You are the prince of Konan, the Imperial kingdom of the South and you belittle yourself by talking to a lowly healer like him? He may have saved your life but if not for that fact, he would be in _poverty_" she had spat out the word like it was some kind of disease and Saihitei had holed himself up in his room for days after that, refusing to speak to his mother.

"Hello Juan" he smiled as the healer looked up.

"Ah, your majesty" he noticed the look on Saihitei's face, "What bothers you?"

That simple question set of a stream of unconnected thoughts in the prince's mind. The first was the utter discrimination people had toward those that were 'under' them. Saihitei hated those kind of people; he believed in fairness; the war that was soon to come. His mother had told him that Kutou had started this war and that they were just simply retaliating, but nevertheless, it was still war. And of course, there was another factor that bothered him even more than those two combined; the general had gathered one of his 'best' fighters to help him and that man – if you could even call him that for he was more like a magpie, attracted to shiny things…most specifically, Saihitei's coins – had brought his wife, who thought that just because her husband was participating in this war, that she could talk to Saihitei like they were old friends and Saihitei found her incredibly annoying. She reminded the prince of a pig and Saihitei never really liked those critters. But all of these troubles came from one source.

"Mother" he told Juan.

"Ah yes…" Juan said knowing that the prince never really liked his mother – or father for that matter – all too much, "I've been hearing many rumours about the upcoming war"

"They're probably all true" Saihitei told him and they spent the rest of the afternoon talking. They failed to notice, however, that behind a tree, a pair of angry eyes watched and listened to every word.

_p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e._

The next few days were very much the same; it seemed that things continuously went wrong for Empress Motaiko. The pirates were being especially uncooperative and unlike most soldiers of Konan, pirates were quite capable of defending themselves, especially the more famous ones. And the fact that irked the Empress the most was that she could not find any leverage to use against them, for they never seemed to use real names. Saihitei made sure to stay out of her way during these days; he spent most of his time talking to Juan or sparring.

However, on the fifth day, something went terribly wrong, for Saihitei.

He went into the garden and found the general, Kishuku (the annoying fighter), his uncle, his mother, Miaka and several guards surrounding Juan. He was instantly confused and angry, though he did not let it show, "What is going on?"

"Oh dear Saihitei" Miaka said quickly.

"Do not refer to me so informally; you are not of the royal family. You shall call me by my proper title as everyone else not of royal blood does" he said coldly, glaring down at her. His mother had no expression on her face, but Saihitei could see an amused look on his uncle's face.

"So…what is going on?"

"Miaka here has informed us that she saw Juan looking at the priceless ruby and gold artifact of Suzaku the other day and now, it has gone missing" Motaiko said coolly, glaring at Juan, "I always told you that he was scum, my son, but you would not listen"

"Is there proof?" Saihitei asked, "Did you _find_ the artifact in his possession?"

"No, but that is besides the point"

"No, that is the _whole_ point!" Saihitei felt his anger rising, "You choose to believe this greedy wench over an honest man, who might I mention, has saved my life _countless_ times with his ability! You do not even have any proof…you just believe _her_ because she is not a 'commoner'"

"SILENCE! I will _not_ be talked to that way" Motaiko hissed, her eyes narrowing and for a moment, she looked rather beastly, "Get out of my sight". She drew herself up to a standing position and still in her tirade, she marched over to Saihitei's quarters, "What a useless son I have; he dares to talk back to me, his own mother? The one who gave birth to him? Brought him into this world? He dares! Well, no more; he will not have the independence he once had…" she cackled rather insanely, "The power of the crown is _mine_!" she hissed, not realizing that Saihitei was behind her. In Saihitei's study, she grabbed all the scrolls, books and anything she could get her hands on and she dumped it all in the fireplace, watching it burn, knowing very well how important the books were to her son. Saihitei reached the room just then and his eyes widened in horror. Clenching his fists to force down another burst of anger, he walked silently back to his bedroom, thinking over the events of that day.

Juan was in prison.

All his work and everything that was important to him were burnt.

His mother had shown exactly how cruel she could be…

And how unstable too, he realized.

But that wasn't the concern at the moment. He knew he had to do something about Juan. He simply could _not_ have stolen anything; it just wasn't in his kind and gentle nature to steal.

Yes, he would have to do something.

_p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e._

That night, as all the guests of the palace slept on, a figure walked stealthily and silently down the corridors to a place where he rarely went. He went down a flight of stairs and the further he went the more rickety and old the stairs looked, as if someone hadn't even bothered to do a good job in finishing the stairs.

Once he reached the bottom, he found himself in another corridor, but this one was filled with wooden doors with a single barred opening as a window on each door. Most of these were empty, he saw, or the prisoners were so old they looked like they were dead. He reached the second last on the left side and pulled out what could only be described as a self made skeleton key. He turned it in the lock and it opened.

On the floor, with a rather surprised expression, was the healer and he looked as though in the few hours he had been here, he had long given up hope of every leaving.

"Your –"

"Shhh; be quiet. The guards could come by any second; they're patrolling the corridors right now"

"Alright…" the man stood up and followed his friend back up the stairs.

"We're leaving the capital tonight" Saihitei whispered.

"We?" Juan asked, shocked, "You mustn't!"

"Yes I must" Saihitei said in a tone of finality, "It's obvious that Konan is corrupt by the way that no one listened to you and besides, I've been wanting to leave these palace walls for a long time; you and I both know that I'm not suited for a life of royalty" Saihitei smiled sadly, "My mother is unstable. She's corrupt with the power she has; you saw the way she was today. Who knows what she might do to keep her power?" For once, Juan saw total and absolute fear in his eyes and he knew why. Motaiko had such a thirst for power, she could very well kill Saihitei to keep the power.

"But…what will we do?"

"I have brought enough money with me to last five years" Saihitei said, "We should be fine; we'll take two horses from the stables and ride to the nearest port town and find a boat of some sort"

After some convincing, Juan eventually agreed and they set off from the palace, hooves pounding on the ground; each had a small bag hanging from the saddle of the horse and each had different thoughts in their minds.

* * *

Sharp was known for his intelligence and uncanny ability to point out things that people generally missed. That was why he was the ship's tactician and why Willow turned to him when their ship – the Phoenix – got in a mess. Those messes were usually caused by Genrou, who was also known as Fang, named for the trademark sharp canine teeth that the redhead had. 

Of course, he was also fast – incredibly fast – but Willow was being evil that day that Fang joined them, and had decided that he would take more pleasure in calling Genrou Fang boy. Of course, despite Fang's protests, the name stuck.

At the moment, Sharp was incredibly irritated. Willow had left for a few hours, leaving him in charge and now Sharp knew exactly why Willow was always angry and drinking lots and lots of alcohol. In the two hours that Willow had been gone, Fang and Kouji (there was really no other name to describe Kouji. He was just…Kouji) had turned the ship upside down. Instead of cleaning the deck properly, they had simply splashed it with soapy water, which was exactly why Sharp had been sitting on the deck for fifteen minutes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up and he imagined that the two were now going through Willow's private stores of alcohol, which would not be a good thing in the long run, especially once Willow found out.

"Help. Me. Up!" he yelled as loud as he could, but to no avail. All the other pirates that _would_ help were stuck on the deck like he was and there was simply no getting to Kouji or Fang once they had even one drop of alcohol.

It simply wasn't done.

In fact, it was on Willow's list of impossible-must-try-to-do tasks, along with getting the Empress to be nice, or Fang to be smart or to lift up that woman who lived in the capital who went by the name of Miaka.

Sharp sighed. He would have to wait for Willow to get back then, or until the water dried. Then…he would get his revenge on those two. Drunken pirates beware…the wrath of midget pirates.

_p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e.p.i.r.a.t.e._

Willow came back after ten hours, a grin on his face. He stopped when he saw the sight that met him on the deck. Apparently, Kouji and Fang had considerably pissed off Sharp, because they were covered in bright, pink paint from head to toe with white polka dots on their arms. It was amusing to watch two pink and white forms play cards while it was obvious that the other two players were trying their hardest not to laugh…with no avail.

"What'd they do?" he asked Sharp.

"You _don't_ wanna know…" Sharp said scathingly while glaring at the two thought-to-be-illiterate bandits. Well, at least Fang was.

As if sensing Sharp's glare, Fang gave an 'eep' and inched away from the fearsome midget.

"So why are you so happy?" Sharp asked.

"The Empress is having a really bad week" Willow grinned, "Make up stolen, other pirates keep raiding her ships and…her son broke a thief out of prison and ran off with him"

Sharp's eyes widened, "What?"

"Yeah!" Willow smirked. He began to walk toward the rooms, "Oh, and we're sailing west tomorrow…I hear there's a fantastic gay bar for Fang boy to go to"

* * *

How was it? please review. 


	3. Older brother

I don't care what ANYONE says. NAKAGO is amazing! …just thought I'd throw that in there…

**Reader's Response:**

**aderine no miko:** (eye twitches) I'll forgive you…this time…

**Kristall:** (takes a deep bow) glad you liked it. I think that's what a pirate's worst fear would be: to be turned pink…amongst other things…o.0…you _really_ like pirates then…

**Kyae Sohma:** LOL; I agree. Those _are_ scary thoughts, but then again, Tomo _must_ have his makeup! He's so funny with make up on. (pinches Tomo's cheek) So funny looking. And yeah, Tasuki in a gay bar is scary, especially since he'd be wrecking everything in sight just to get out of there. Alright, I'll have to think about it since I don't know how I could put you in, but when I do, I'll send you one of those ffnet message thingies, k?

* * *

He had no memories of his time before coming here. Well, that was not quite true. There was one memory, but it gave no information about his past. All that memory had was a flash of blue light, which could have come from anything; an explosion (though he doubted it; there were not many people these days who could make that powerful an explosion), it could have been a mage he had upset and been attacked with blue flames, and the list went on. 

He knew that he had been wandering around the streets for a few months, stealing, begging and doing all that was needed to survive. He had been about twelve years old when he was caught picking someone's pocket. He had been dragged to the palace, despite his screams. Those screams must have been loud because it attracted the attention of the general, who seemed to be in a bad mood.

"_What is going on here?" the general had asked._

"_Caught this kid stealing" one of the guards had grunted. While they talked, he had attempted to break loose and kept on struggling. Eventually, he got out of their grasp and he started to run off. He had not gotten far however, when the general caught up to him. _

"_You brat" the guards had hissed; one had an angry expression of letting such a child escape from him in the presence of the general._

"_Release him" the general said. His eyes had a strange look that was quite unlike the coldness that he usually held in them. The guards quickly obeyed. The general walked over to him, "Tell me boy, how long have you been stealing?"_

"_Dunno…seven years?" he guessed._

"_And that makes you…"_

"'_bout twelve" He never knew exactly how he knew how old he was, but he just did. But it wasn't that hard to guess, after comparing himself to the other boys in the capital._

"_Well, you're certainly more able than most of the other idiots I'm forced to train" the general said begrudgingly, "Most wouldn't even be able to survive a day out on the streets" he murmured, "Would you like to be trained in the army, kid?"_

_He thought about it. If he accepted, he would get training, to be able to fight, and he wouldn't have to struggle to just get one tiny piece of bread. He could not see anything bad about accepting this deal._

_He nodded._

He was brought out of his reverie by a knock on the door, "Breakfast is being served, my Lord"

He stood up. Since he had not even a name when he arrived at the palace, the general had named him. He had been officially named Ayuru, and taken the last name of the general, but those at the palace who knew him well called him Kokoro, even though he was just the opposite of that: heartless.

Unfortunately, the man that Ayuru had gotten to know as a father, died when he was sixteen, after four short years. However, it had taken only that long for Ayuru to advance in the ranks and be named second-in-command and when his father had died, he had succeeded him as the general. No one dared to question this because to those that Ayuru did not know well, he had an overwhelming feeling of cold hatred that no one dared to invoke onto themselves. Now, at twenty-five years, Ayuru was preparing for his first real war, against their rival kingdom, Konan.

His sapphire blue eyes glittered determinedly as he thought of the look on all the noblemen's faces when he brought victory to Kutou.

* * *

Eagle sighed as he watched his brother's antics. Hawk was currently chasing Peacock around swinging the bladed spheres that everyone liked to refer to as yo-yos, but apparently, according to Hawk, they were the 'almighty and bloody ryuuseisui'. 

"HOW MANY TIMES PEACOCK? I DO _NOT_ ENJOY SLUMBER PARTIES AND I DEFINITELY DO NOT ENJOY WAKING UP TO FIND YOU IN MY ROOM!" Hawk yelled furiously. Peacock cackled strangely but did not make a comment.

The door opened and Raven walked out, dressed all in black as always. Eagle had always wondered if she ever owned any other colors besides that color. Raven took one look at the situation and raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?"

"He was in my room again!" Hawk yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Peacock.

"He's just upset that we didn't stop by that gay bar" Raven said calmly.

"But why me!"

"Well, for one thing…you're the only one that _didn't_ lock your door last night" Raven pointed out.

Hawk opened his mouth, but no sound came out and then he began to bang his head against the ship wall. Eagle wisely decided not to ask how she knew this.

Of course, Falcon chose that exact moment to walk out, "I see Pea has been making his rounds again" she commented, as if it this sort of thing happened every day.

"You don't suppose we could find a gay bar, could we?" Peacock asked.

"…Pea…NO; we have urgent business"

"What could be more urgent than going to a gay bar?" Peacock asked incredulously.

"I'm not even going to answer that" Falcon shook her head, "Raven…where's the map?"

"Here…why?" Raven asked suspiciously.

"Give it to me"

"Oh no…not with _your_ sense of direction! The map stays with me!"

"It's not that bad!"

"Not _that_ bad? Last time we tried to let you navigate, we ended up in the coldest point in Hokkan when we were trying to go to Konan!" while she was saying this, however, the map was yanked out of her hands.

"Got it!" Falcon shouted triumphantly, holding the rolled up piece of parchment behind her back.

"Give it" Raven said in a threatening voice.

"NO!"

"Give it BACK!" Raven glared.

And Falcon's answer to that? She stuffed it down her shirt. Raven's eye twitched, which was always a dangerous sign. She then sighed, "Fine then…then I guess we can't drop Pea off at that gay bar. I heard it was fantastic"

And that was how Falcon was currently being chased down by a gay bar deprived Peacock with the map still down her shirt, the parchment covering half of her face, making the scene quite funny to watch.

* * *

Ayuru was quickly growing impatient. They were due an hour ago. He drummed his fingers on his chair as he waited. Normally, he was a very patient man, but concerning something as serious and important as this, he was losing patience. Finally, there was a tentative knock on his door, "General Ayuru? The Ryuuka has docked" 

Finally! Ayuru stood up and swiftly left the palace without a word to anyone and made his way to the harbor, where he found the people he had been waiting for, and would tip the scale of this war in his favor.

"Sorry we're late, 'koro" the black haired captain said, using her nickname for him, "But _Falcon_ here wouldn't hand the map over" she indicated the redhead who was pouting and muttering under her breath, something about soon becoming the only captain.

"It's alright" Ayuru said, his voice a bit less cold. He knew the captains from when the two girls were still children. Abandoned on the streets with no one but each other, they had tried to pick his pockets, not knowing that Ayuru had once been one of them, and knew when his pocket was about to be picked. Then he decided to train them; after all, if _he_, a street rat could become general, perhaps these two would become something great also. So he brought them to the palace and put them under his protection, which stopped any of the older soldiers from trying to kill them.

And he had been right. They did have potential; they were trained in assassination, stealth, thievery and of course, combat. Two years after Ayuru was made general, the girls were already the best in their line of work, and worked only for Nakago; they refused to work for anyone else, even the royal family.

Then they decided they wanted to be of use in ways other than assassination. They took this idea to Ayuru and he suggested that they go into piracy; that way, they could cause trouble for other nations without actually being associated with Kutou, they could make an alliance with the other pirates should Kutou ever need it, and they could find out a lot of useful information. Eventually, they loved their new line of work so much that they couldn't imagine leaving.

Sure, even though Ayuru did not show it, or even try to deny it, he often missed the last two people who were family to him, something Ayuru had been denied early on.

"Aniki!" Raven practically launched herself at her 'brother' as Falcon pouted, sporting a head injury due to being hit across the head with the safe end of a scythe.

_(AN: I don't care if this seems out of character for Nakago; I think he would have made an...interesting older brother! So there! (sticks tongue out)...)_

Ayuru rolled his eyes as Falcon got out a large mallet and began chasing Raven around the room, swinging it and yelling curses at the black haired girl.

He shot a look at one of the crew and they gave him a helpless look. It seemed that the girls' behaviour still resembled those of a four year old's. Ayuru briefly wondered if these people were actually sane, to actually want to be captained by these two.

After a while, the girls finally settled down and they got down to business, for this was not just a mere social call. Although most people refused to admit it, piracy and befriending pirates had its uses.

Eagle and Hawk watched the two captains develop almost completely different personalities as they worked out a deal with their elder brother. It was impossible, or at least, they had thought it was impossible, but the two had miraculously become _serious_. Never in all the years they had spent with the two did they ever see them serious. Deciding to leave them to their work, they dragged Peacock away from goggling General Ayuru and decided to explore the palace.

Peacock whined as they continued to drag him across the floor. Unfortunately, there had been no other way to get his body to move except to pull him by his legs so therefore, there was a trail of smudged white, blue and black make up on the palace floor. Then, of course, Hawk had to go and decide to draw something with it, and everyone on the ship knew that Hawk was not the most talented of artists. In fact, his artistic talent ranked lower than a retarded giraffe's. Before either Peacock or Eagle could comment, however, Falcon showed up. She looked at the make up drawing on the floor, rolled her eyes and told them to follow her and that they were done. When they got back to Ayuru's rooms, Raven was rolling up a piece of parchment and as an extra precaution, she put it in the sheath of her scythe (custom made of course), away from Falcon's hands, where deadly things could happen if said captain ever got hold of _any_ pieces of parchment.

Then Falcon turned to the three of them, "Why don't you get Sparrow in here? Ayuru and the Emperor have offered us rooms for the night; there will be wine" both Hawk and Eagle's eyes lit up. Peacock frowned, "Oh, and men of course" Peacock's frown turned upside down and he raced out of the palace to get Sparrow.

Ayuru blinked, "Maybe I should try that tactic on some of the men…assuming that they're all gay of course"

"Why of course they are? Why else do you think they were so jealous of us when we started training under you?" Falcon asked as if it was the most obvious thing.

"…because they wanted to be trained too…"

"Nope; men only get jealous when they're gay and you, my brother, are unfortunately the object of their sexual affections"

Ayuru blinked again, "Which one of your dimwitted crew gave you sugar?"

Raven's eye twitched after hearing the conversation, "…someone's getting cleaning duty for a month…" she threatened, "You know very well that under _no_ circumstances are you to give her sugar…"

"But she threatened me with a – "

"_No_ circumstances" Raven repeated.

"But – "

As Raven walked off, whistling random tunes under her breath, the rest of the crew turned to the perpetrator, "What did she threaten you with?"

Sparrow shivered, "She threatened to dye my hair pink"

The rest of the crew shivered also. How evil.

* * *

Juan looked briefly at the young prince. It had been at least a month since they had left the palace and the prince had long ago lost the exuberance he felt at first, when dreaming of adventure, discoveries and most of all, brilliant escapes from his mother's soldiers. It was no question why he had stopped dreaming of those things. 

The only things they had experienced the past few weeks were hunger, boredom and cold. The country of Konan was very bad off when it came to the villages outside of the capital. They were miserable, cold and the people were always snapping at each other.

Now they were traveling down a large mountain and Juan strained his eyes. Yes, he was sure he could see the light of a village in the distance which meant they could stop and rest for the night. He cast a worried look at Saihitei and noticed that the young prince was practically falling off his horse.

"Your – Saihitei?" Juan quickly corrected himself, "Are you alright?"

Saihitei mumbled an incoherent answer and his head fell onto the horse's mane. Worried, Juan got off his own horse and halted the prince's horse. The prince did not even noticed his horse stopping. Now, Juan was worried; a sudden stop like that could have even woken that fat woman –Miaka – from the palace up and she slept like a pig.

He then noticed that Saihitei's breath was ragged and it was as if he was having trouble breathing. Deciding to look for some place that wasn't out in the open where mountain bandits could get them, Juan directed the horses through the throng of trees until they reached a clearing beyond the woods that was filled with rocks. He shifted the prince in a more comfortable position on a horse; it wasn't safe to take him off; who knew when someone would attack them? He noticed that besides the ragged breathing, Saihitei was sweating profusely on a cold night such as this; and he had a high fever, which explained the sluggishness and the muttering.

Juan quickly searched through his bag for some herbs to relieve the fever, for that seemed to be the most important task at the moment. However, he was disrupted when there was a sudden sound of horse hooves and two horses pelted out of the trees straight at them. Panicked, Juan quickly got up and stood defensively in front of the prince.

Just as Juan feared, mountain bandits had found them. One of the bandits was wore a hooded cloak that covered the face and the way the wind picked the hem of the cloak up made the rider seem to much more threatening. Juan thought the other one as insane; during these cold nights, he wore nothing but a pair of trousers and had the sheath of a sword tied around his waist. Black eyes bored into Juan's and the healer shivered; it was as if a ruthless animal had been staring back at him.

"Who are you and what are you doing on our mountain?" the cloaked one spoke. Now, Juan could tell it was a woman.

"Uh…I'm…just passing"

"No one ever dares to pass through our mountain. Tell the truth!" the tip of a sword met his throat lightly. Juan gulped and the man glared, snarling a bit. Unfortunately, the horses were equally as terrified of this man as he was. However, horses unlike Juan, act upon their fear; therefore, the horse reared on its hind legs. Unfortunately, that had also been the horse that Saihitei was still on. So, the prince fell onto the ground and Juan grimaced when he heard a crunch. That was not good.

Fate seemed to hate Juan tonight, as did Luck. Not too long after Saihitei fell onto the ground did the ground around him and the horse start to crack and only then did Juan realize that they were on a mountain, therefore, any clearing would be on a cliff. If he could, he would be banging his head against the ground in anger at his stupidity.

He pushed the bandit and his sword away and ran to the edge, only to find it too late and that Saihitei was beyond his grasp. The prince was still so stricken with fever that he never noticed that he was falling. Conveniently, however, Juan heard the splash of water and sighed in relief at the hope that Saihitei had not been succumbed to being impaled by sharp jagged rocks. Misfortune really loved him tonight because the horse had managed to get back on safe ground.

Juan turned to the bandits, eyes blazing however, "You idiots! Look what you've done! That was the _prince_!"

The two bandits couldn't help but gulp at the danger they saw in Juan's eyes.

* * *

Willow had been on morning watch when he realized that Fang was awake. How exactly did he realize this? Well, first of all, when Fang _isn't_ awake, all is quiet. Not deathly quiet, mind you; peacefully quiet. However, everyone who knew Fang knew that peaceful and quiet did not exist in Fang's vocabulary. 

Willow was jolted out of his early morning ponderings – also known as sleeping on the job – by loud, obscene cursing. That was when he knew that Fang was awake and that he would no longer get his quiet thinking time – also known as thinking of ways to annoy Sharp.

The rest of the morning was just as hectic. They were headed to the area of the seas where it did not belong to any of the countries. It was a neutral area where they could be safe if they were ever on the run from countries. However, pirates could banish other pirates out of there; it had happened before when the lowly pirate Tenkou had attempted to dominate over the others.

Halfway there, Sharp suddenly gave a shout, "There's a man in the water!" he hollered. Willow looked out and saw that there was indeed a man floating like a corpse in the sea. Without thinking, he and Kouji both dove in and while Kouji held onto the rope thrown to him by the ones up on deck, Willow swam against the current and grabbed the man.

When they were back on deck, the crew was all panicking, thinking that the man was dead. However, when he gave a cough, the healers immediately swooped down on him and ordered for him to be carried to the infirmary for treatment. Willow sighed as he dried himself off; what a day so far.

A few hours later, he was panicking again when the lookout shouted that the Ryuuka was approaching. He hadn't had time to hide his valuable stuff! He began to stuff anything that could be potentially dangerous into a cupboard for safe keeping. He remembered their _last_ visit; Fang had almost gone insane.

The two captains boarded, followed by their crew.

"Hey Willow" Raven grinned, "I see you've gotten more men on your crew"

"And I see most of your men saw the light and decided to leave to save their sanity" Willow retorted.

"Dodo!" Falcon bounced over to Fang, "How've you been holding up since our last visit?"

Fang whimpered and scurried over to the corner.

* * *

Alright, for the people who are completely confused (I'm not saying you are, this is _just in case_), I'm going to tell you which nicknames are for which seishi right here. 

**Willow**: Nuriko  
**Fang/Dodo:** Tasuki  
**Peacock: **Tomo  
**Hawk: **Suboshi  
**Eagle: **Amiboshi  
**Sharp:** Chiriko  
**Sparrow:** Chichiri  
**Kokoro/Ayuru:** Nakago


End file.
